All language subtitles for Natures.Strangest.Mysteries.Solved.Series.1.02of10.Skyscraper.Raccoon.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

Narrator:
Ever wondered why a raccoon

Might scale
a 25-story skyscraper?

This is an extraordinary feat
for any animal.

Narrator: Or why a duck would
have a supersized flock?

76 babies, one mom.
Something weird is happening.

Narrator: And why one species
would feed another.

What could possibly induce
a black-headed cardinal

To feed the hungry mouth
of a goldfish?

Narrator: Nature
is awe-inspiring,

But sometimes it just
doesn't make sense.

Man: I have never,
ever seen anything like this.

Strange animal behavior,

Unexpected events...
Whoa!

...Captured on camera.

[ animals screeching ]

The truth behind them
is astonishing.

Woman: My god!

Nature's greatest mysteries
solved.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator: St. Paul, minnesota,
June 12, 2018.

Like a scene from "spider-man,"
city workers gasp in awe

As our hero begins to scale
a 25-story skyscraper.

But this superhero
is a raccoon.

As she climbs higher and higher,

It becomes the biggest
animal story of the year.

Woman: He's right here.

Burke: It seemed like it was
doing the impossible --

Clinging on this sheer
vertical face.

Everyone watched this with
their hearts in their mouths.

I'm going to have
a heart attack.

I'm going to have
a heart attack.

Cooke: Our raccoon isn't
the slightest bit fazed

By this epic climb.

In between bouts of clambering
up the building,

She'll even take a nap
on a window ledge,

Much to the delight
of the office workers.

The raccoon's here
at the ledge.

So this climb doesn't
faze her at all.

Man: Oh! Is she gonna
take a break?

Woman: Take a break.
Take a breather.

This is a very, very, very
tall building,

Which is a very,
very, very long climb.

Narrator:
So long that she takes 12 hours
to get to the 16th floor.

During that time,
word of the raccoon's climb

Spreads like wildfire.

It became an internet sensation

Because this is an extraordinary
feat for any animal.

Narrator:
Fans name the raccoon rocket.

She soon has her own
twitter account.

The story goes viral.

♪

But rocket's not the only
thrill-seeker out there.

In the same year,
this raccoon scaled

All the way up this crane.

There's anecdotal and recorded
evidence of raccoons

Climbing skyscrapers,

Residences, power poles
in increasing numbers.

Narrator: As a result of this
adventurous behavior,

Some people call raccoons
nature's ninjas.

This guy decided he didn't like
the climb and jumped.

[ crowd gasping ]

Luckily, the sand landing
allowed him to escape unscathed.

In fact, raccoons can survive
falls of up to 130 feet.

Woman: Oh, my god.

But at 300 feet,

Rocket needs to hold on tight.
Man: Come on, buddy.

Woman:
You can do it, rocket!

♪

How do these critters get to
such spectacular heights

To begin with?

To find out, we enlisted
the help of raccoon expert

Suzanne macdonald,
who lives in toronto,

One of the most raccoon-infested
cities in the world.

Raccoons are capable of
climbing pretty much anything.

So they can climb trees.

They can also climb
metal structures.

They can climb the sides
of houses,

Anywhere they can
get purchase on it,

They can grasp onto things
that others species can't.

Man: No, no, no.

Cooke: So raccoons have
very strong limbs

And extremely dexterous hands

That are not dissimilar
to our own.

They don't have opposable
thumbs like we do,

But they do have
very long fingers.

♪

[ laughter ]

Narrator: And these long fingers
allow them to take on

What seems
like the impossible.

Cooke: That skyscraper may look
smooth to us,

But it's actually got
a pebbly surface,

Which is just enough
for a raccoon to grip onto.

Woman:
Oh, hi, baby.

Narrator: And raccoons have
another extraordinary skill

That makes them
fearless climbers.

Raccoons are quite unusual

Because they have the ability
to come down headfirst.

Cats don't.

That's why we always see cats
stuck up trees.

Narrator: Now we know how
our daredevil raccoon

Was able to scale
the skyscraper.

The bigger question is, why?

Woman:
Oh, poor baby.

Woman: Look at him.

♪

Cooke: In the wild, raccoons use
those climbing skills

In order to climb trees
or even cliffs

Because they'll build
their dens high up.

So could she be pregnant,

And therefore,
trying to find

The safest possible location
to raise her young?

♪

Raccoons normally give birth
in spring, and this was June.

So she couldn't have
been pregnant,

But maybe she was
climbing the building

To check on her
existing kits.

♪

Narrator:
Well, our raccoon-ologist

Has doubts over rocket's
maternal motives.

Macdonald:
I could tell immediately
she wasn't a nursing mom.

I was following this
obsessively on social media.

I did watch when she was
in the windowsill,

And she was curled up,
and I could tell immediately

'cause it is pretty obvious,

So I don't think
she had babies to support.

♪

Narrator: Was this raccoon
simply heading home?

Greive: Urban raccoons have
up to a dozen dens

Scattered around
three city blocks.

Could it have just
established a den

Atop of this high-rise building?

Raccoons will make their dens
in basically anything

They can squeeze
their bodies into.

They've been known to make
their dens in barns,

Sewers, cars.

Why not the top of a skyscraper?

Narrator: But would a raccoon
pick such a difficult location?

Our expert thinks not.

Macdonald: No self-respecting
raccoon would find a den site

At the top
of a 25-story building.

That is not what raccoons do,
so they need to be much closer

To the ground
to get down easily.

So she must be going up there
for another reason.

Narrator: Could she be going up
in search of food?

♪

Greive:
Keep in mind that when the
raccoon was originally spotted,

She was on
a neighboring building

Of just two stories where she
was looking for pigeon eggs.

Narrator: While rural raccoons
love this high-protein snacks,

There are much easier pickings
for their city cousins.

♪

Cooke:
In urban situations,

Raccoons tend to stick
to one substance,

And that is garbage.
[ laughs ]

They love our trash.

It provides them with almost
everything that they need

In one dive.

[ dog barks ]

♪

In fact, their love of garbage

Has even given them
the nickname trash pandas.

Macdonald:
Raccoons are omnivores,

So they like high-fat foods,

They like high-protein foods,
they can eat anything they find.

Chinese food, pizza,
any kind of cookies, cake,

Anything that
we would find delicious,

They find delicious as well.

♪

Greive:
They'll break into houses
through cat flaps.

They'll come in through cracks
in windows and factories.

They'll steal snacks
out of dumpsters.

I don't think there is a more
gifted opportunist

In the animal kingdom.

Narrator:
So, could our daredevil raccoon

Be reaching new heights
in search of a snack?

Burke: So city raccoons
don't have to work that hard.

They've got loads more
opportunities for finding food.

So it's really unlikely that
this is what's going on here.

[ woman laughs ]

Narrator: Rocket wasn't
foraging for food.

She wasn't going up to look
after her kits,

And she wasn't
seeking out a new den.

So, was she just climbing
for kicks?

Woman: I'm going to have
a heart attack.

[ insects chirping ]

[ insects chirping ]

♪

Narrator: In a baffling
20-hour display of bravery,

A minnesota raccoon
is free-climbing

A 25-story building.

So, what really drove
this risk-taking raccoon

To attempt
such a daring climb?

The answer is in their dna.

Scientists now believe that
urban raccoons

Are evolving rapidly
into a separate subspecies

As a direct result
of their exposure

To an extraordinary array
of problems and stimulus

That they would never
have in the wild

Until, finally, they're quite
a different animal

To the original raccoon.

Narrator: Case in point --
this guy,

Who takes on a raccoon-proof
bird feeder

With stunt man skills.

Man: Oh, keep going.

[ laughs ]

I want to see if he actually
can pull it off.

Man: He does!
He does it all the time.

Look at him.

He's unscrewing it.
He's unscrewing it.

Oh, my god.

He's unscrewing it
with his bottom legs.

There it is.
There it goes.

[ laughs ]

What a genius.

♪

Narrator: And according to
expert suzanne macdonald,

This new raccoon super species

Has a trait that makes them
take on the impossible.

Most animals are what
we call neophobic,

Which means that when they see
new things, they're afraid.

Urban raccoons
are the exact opposite.

They are neophilic, which means
they like new things.

When they see a new thing, they
go to it, and they explore it.

Cooke: Neophilia means that they
are very happy taking risks,

And this has enabled them
to adapt

Fantastically to
an urban landscape.

Woman: I'm sorry.
I'm just curious.

Narrator: Experts suspect
a craving for novelty

Is why rocket took on
this 25-story challenge.

Her neophilia meant
she simply couldn't quit.

Macdonald: I think in her
little raccoon brain,

She just thought,
"I just gotta keep going."

She was committed
to just getting to the top.

Narrator: And finally,
at 2:57 a.M., she gets there.

Thankfully, she doesn't
have to climb back down.

Once you had reached
the summit of this skyscraper

After 20 exhausting hours,

She was immediately taken into
custody by animal control,

And she was relocated to
a far less perilous habitat.

Macdonald:
I was so happy to find out that
she made it to the top okay.

I am on team raccoon,
that's for sure.

Greive:
One of a raccoon's strengths

Is they like to complete
the tasks they set themselves.

Raccoons are really
the special forces

In the animal kingdom.

There's really nothing
they can't do.

♪

Narrator:
Lake bemidgi, minnesota,

July 2018 --

A female duck is seen leading
her brood across the water,

But something strange
is going on.

This duck is being followed
by almost 80 chicks.

Schreiber:
76 baby ducks, chicks.

That shouldn't happen.
That's too many ducks.

♪

Narrator: So, is this the mother
of all ducklings?

Something weird
is happening here.

Burke:
This is absolutely crazy.

I mean, she must be
exhausted.

So, the obviously question
is, are they hers?

♪

Narrator: Did duck supermom
lay 76 eggs?

Other species are certainly
capable

Of some pretty
plentiful parenting.

There are some really
prolific examples of spawners

In the animal world.

Army ants,
the queen is known to lay

Between 3 and 4 million eggs
in her lifetime.

Narrator: One of the few
animal daddies to give birth

Is also a profuse procreator.

Burke:
Seahorses are amazing.

I mean, they will give birth
to live young,

And they give birth
to up to 2,000 seahorses.

And in this case, it's the male
doing all the work.

So with all these incredible
examples of egg layers

And spawners
in the natural world,

Is it possible that this species
and this particular female

Is basically a super egg layer?

Narrator: But the merganser
duck's rate of reproduction

Doesn't fit the bill.

The merganser species only have
6 to 12 eggs per clutch.

So where have all these
extra ducks come from?

♪

Narrator: If the chicks weren't
all laid by one mom,

Could another bird
be responsible?

So there's a trick
that some birds do to each other

That might be behind this.

And that is, when they lay
their eggs in each other's nests

And trick other moms
into raising their babies.

Narrator:
The most notorious perpetrator
of this con job -- the cuckoo.

Burke:
So the cuckoo will actually lay
its eggs in other birds' nests

And force those parents
to raise its young.

But there's more to the story.

What's really amazing is,
when a chick first emerges,

It starts turfing out
the eggs of the host.

It's quite creepy, actually.

♪

Narrator: By getting rid
of any potential rivals,

Baby cuckoos are
almost certain to thrive.

They can even end up being fed
by parents

Who are much smaller
than they are.

That's because most birds
don't recognize their own young

Or their own eggs from others,
and ducks are no exception.

50% of the duck nests
in north america

Contain the eggs
of another duck species.

And the biggest swindler
among them -- the redhead.

Burke: This is a really
interesting strategy

Because what the redhead
does here is she sizes up

How well the other females
might be raising their young,

And if she thinks they're gonna
do a better job than her,

She'll lay her eggs
in another duck's nest.

Narrator: So, has duck supermom
been duped into incubating

Another bird's eggs?

She'd have to be a ginormous
mother duck

Because 76 eggs is far
too many eggs for one duck

To be sitting completely over,
so no, not possible.

Narrator: But just because
she didn't incubate the eggs

Doesn't mean
she isn't raising the chicks.

So, could supermom
be running a crèche?

Crèche is french for nursery.

This means a few adults
will take on the care

Of a number of baby birds
that don't all belong to them.

So, an animal crèche
is a really clever way

Of sharing the work
of raising young.

Flamingos do it,
ostriches do it.

So do penguins.

So is this what's happening here
with our merganser duck?

Riskin: 76 birds?

I don't think so.
That's not a crèche.

Besides which,
there's only one mom there.

The whole idea with a crèche is,
all the moms are sharing it.

All of those babies,
they're all with one bird.

I think the key to this one
is you gotta stop

Thinking about the mom, and you
gotta think about the babies.

[ chirping ]

♪

[ insects chirping ]

Narrator:
In lake bemidgi, minnesota,

Extraordinary footage
is captured of a merganser duck

With 76 ducklings.

How is it possible that one bird
could have so many chicks?

It turns out, the answer lies
in a unique bird phenomenon.

Birds have this neat thing
called imprinting where,

At some point
in their development,

They see something move,
and they decide, that's mom,

And they follow it everywhere.

Schreiber:
Now, that doesn't necessarily

Even need to be a duck.

There's been cases
where it's been a dog.

And they followed the dog
and thought that was their mom

For their whole life.

[ chirping ]

♪

Narrator: And on lake bemidgi,
an unusually long winter

Meant that the chicks'
real parents

Laid their eggs later
than usual.

The chicks had only just hatched

When it was time
for the adults to migrate.

♪

With their parents gone,

The chicks then imprinted
on the only remaining female.

Schreiber:
One duck was wandering along,

And all these newly
hatched chicks saw her,

Thought she was the mum,
and she became their supermom.

So all these chicks have
imprinted onto the one female

And now see her as mom,
and vice versa.

The female doesn't really
distinguish once she's

Bonded with the chicks
between her own chicks

And the chicks
of another bird.

It's quite amazing.

♪

[ insects chirping ]

♪

Narrator: 2010,
carthage, illinois --

Extraordinary footage surfaces
showing a bird feeding seeds

To some hungry fish.

Schreiber: We see
a black-headed cardinal

Walk to the edge of
the little pond,

And suddenly, a group
of goldfish start coming up,

And the cardinal
is feeding the goldfish.

The birds returned six times
in a single day

To feed those goldfish.

Greive: Quite baffling to see
this behavior.

What could possibly induce
a black-headed cardinal

To feed the hungry mouth
of a goldfish?

Narrator: The obvious answer
is that the bird

Is getting something in return.

It's called mutual symbiosis.

This is when two unlikely
animal species pair up

To help each other.

Schreiber:
A symbiotic relationship
is where two animals

Who definitely should not be
hanging out with each other do,

And they work together.

Not unlike what we see
with clownfish protecting

And in turn being protected
by sea anemones.

Or, for example, oxpecker birds

Taking the parasites
from the backs of rhino.

Narrator:
But there's a problem with
the mutual symbiosis theory.

The bird gets nothing from this,
and so by definition,

It's not symbiosis.

Schreiber:
But something is clearly
attracting the cardinal.

I think there's actually
a clue here when you look

At the gaping mouth
of the goldfish as they come up.

♪

[ insects chirping ]

Narrator: In carthage, illinois,
extraordinary footage

Is captured of a bird
feeding fish in a pond.

We've ruled out symbiosis,

Where animals work together
for mutual gain.

So, why is the bird doing it?

Greive:
Could the bird be fishing?

Offering these morsels to lure
in a fish that it could eat?

Narrator: This theory is
supported by this heron,

Who knows exactly how
to angle for a meal.

Schreiber: They come to the edge
of a water

And just put bread
into the surface area of it

And bring up the fish
to the top.

And then when they come,
will start attacking the fish

And eating them.

Narrator:
A cunning hunting tactic.

But hold on a second.

Greive:
These fish are far too large
for a bird of that size to eat,

Even if it had
the appetite for them,

Which this species
of bird does not.

It's a seed-eating passerine.

It has no interest
in fish and chips.

Narrator: In fact,
it's the shape and color

Of the fishes' mouths

That's sending the cardinal
an irresistible signal.

♪

A gaping mouth does look
very similar to the gaping mouth

Of a young cardinal chick
who's hungry and needs food.

Narrator: So it looks like this
bird has confused the goldfish

For its own chicks

And is just doing the job
of being a parent --

Feeding its young.

Greive: Which brings us
to the conclusion

That this particular
black-headed cardinal

Just has too much maternal love
in its bosom,

And it wants to look after
these little fish

As if they were its own.

I think it's lovely to see this
interspecies affection.

[ insects chirping ]